Israel can do it, @anntensity. I mean, Israel doesn't have water. Most of the water they drink is man-made. (Desalination & purification) I'm pretty sure they can do a #TheWall for us. In exchange for that grand embassy gesture. https://t.co/M8z2iyJecr

His life is on the line—the rest of it—yet Paul Manafort’s lawyers have opted for a risky defense strategy. Risky when so much is at stake.

Instead of mounting a defense against the oddly timed prosecution out of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office, Manafort’s lead attorney Kevin Downing decides to wing it. His defense relied on cross examination of the prosecution’s witnesses.

“This is very common after prosecution rests to file a motion saying they didn’t meet the burden beyond a reasonable doubt,” said John Cohen, a former homeland security official and ABC New contributor. “Typically, this doesn’t work.”

Manafort’s lawyers clearly felt that gambling was the way to go, here. After all, what’s there to lose? The rest of their client’s life?

UPDATE (8/22):

Dumb lawyer gambled with his client’s life and the client lost.

Poor #PaulManafort's dumb lawyer gambled with his client's life and the client lost. He put on no active case, believing juries were sophisticated enough to discern that “the government has not met its burden of proof.” https://t.co/w4tilsTqjj

When the full weight of the state can be brought down on one man, and when that man is not a criminal in any meaningful sense—remember, taxation is legalized, state theft of private property—you know that man, Paul Manafort, in this case, was never free.